December 30, 2014

On
November 9, 2014 the world celebrated 25 years since the fall of the infamous
Berlin Wall.Romania, though, had to
wait for another month and a half to properly rejoice in the prospects of a
future filled with freedom and democracy.The Romanian Revolution of December ’89 occurred 25 years ago, yet I
remember it as if it was yesterday.I
was only four years old; but the memories of those bloody events and gory week
in late Dec. ‘89 are some of the most vivid memories of my life and I truly
believe they will accompany me forever. It’s funny how a child’s brain works – just
like a sponge – it absorbs anything and everything whether it’s a foreign
language or graphic, gruesome events and images.Sometimes, I feel that my memory came to life
during that week.I don’t have any specific
recollections before Dec. ‘89; everything was a mere blur, but after that
things and life came into focus.

My hometown, Arad, was one of the
pivotal cities of the revolution.Situated only thirty miles north of Timișoara, the birth city of the
Romanian Revolution, it didn’t take long for my hometown to join the
manifestations against the communist regime.Unfortunately, the many victims were a bitter aftermath. For me, the
days back then all blended together in a cacophony of rich memories.As it turns out, what I remember the most
were events that actually transpired during the bloodiest night my hometown
experienced during the revolution.

It
was the night of Saturday, Dec. 23 through Sunday, Dec. 24.I was at my nanny’s place across the street
from my grandparents’ house.Her
grandson, Alex, was there too.I recall
it was a fairly mild winter; there was no snow on the ground just yet.That specific evening, strange, repetitive firearm
sounds came from outside, which prompted our curiosity to rush to the window
and investigate.The sounds were coming
from the river bank.So, Alex and I, two
four-year olds, perched on the window, craned our necks and were met by a blazing
spectacle of red and green colors displayed above the river.They were fairly loud and colorful but they
were not fireworks.I was smiling in awe
until my nanny stormed through the bedroom door and yanked us down from the
window before securely closing it.My
grandpa showed up a few minutes later to take me home.

While
crossing the thirty yards from my nanny’s house to my grandparents’, I glanced
over my shoulder to steal another peek of the back and forth display of
colorful lights clearly visible above the river as my grandpa was purposefully
dragging me home.That night, I slept on
the floor of my room with my grandparents.My parents were not with us and it was only later that I discovered
where they spent that dreadful night.The next day, on a very sunny and clear Christmas
Eve, I wasn’t looking for Christmas gifts from Santa under the tree; I was
scavenging for bullets on the street outside the house. Luckily, my grandparents’ house was untouched,
but we still found a handful of bullets on the street.Not to mention the bullet surprise in my very
own bedroom at my parents’ apartment.

The
night before Christmas Eve, while I was at my grandparents’, my dad was at home
in our flat on the sixth floor of a ten story apartment building located on one
of the most assaulted streets during that frightening night.Our neighbors from across the hallway found
refuge in our bathroom, the only room in the apartment with no windows, since
their apartment was shattered to pieces.That same night, a bullet was shot through my bedroom window.The bullet went through the balcony window,
the bedroom window and the curtains before hitting the wall above my bed,
recoiling back underneath the window and eventually melting on the hardwood
floor.

Fortunately,
I was not sleeping in my bed that night, but my dad was lounging on the couch
in the next room over. After a few hours in the bathroom, he decided that he
would not spend the entire night hiding there and grabbed a bottle of wine and sprawled
on the couch in the living room.In his own
words, ‘if I were to die tonight, at least I would do it with my stomach full.’A few years ago, my mom finally replaced the
old curtains that bared the black rimmed hole of the bullet and held intact the
memories of that horrific night, yet the melted mark of the bullet still mars the
hardwood floor of my bedroom to this day.

While
my dad was in our apartment my mom was stuck at work and couldn’t come home due
to the slaughter throughout town.She only
returned home in the awfully sunny morning covering the five long miles from
the factory to the apartment on foot through the blinding layers of freshly
laid snow that was barely coating the bloody and bullet scattered grounds.

The horrendous events of those days escalated with the speedy
trial and execution of our former dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena
on Christmas Day.I was sitting in my
own little chair next to my family gaping at the incredible events unfolding on TV.It was like watching live reality TV but with
people being shot with real bullets, laying in puddles of blood and never
getting up again. And yes, I witnessed
it all.

My
parents were exactly the age I am right now when the revolution took place.Would I be as brave as they were, gathering
during tumultuous times in the town hall square and protesting against an
oppressing regime while handing out holiday candy to the armed soldiers?I don’t know… I don’t believe so… But they
did and so did many other Romanians who experienced the revolution and lived to
tell about it.

Aside
from my personal story and because we’re still in the midst of cookie season, I
also want to share with you my grandma’s recipe for one of my family’s favorite
holiday cookies: Sugar Snails.These adorable concoctions are always present
on our Christmas table.It’s rather easy
to guess why – you get a heap of servings, they’re great with coffee or tea,
cute, a little crunchy, a lot nutty and good, really good.And as my mom likes to say – ‘anything with
walnuts is a winner.’I absolutely agree
with that.Enjoy this sweet treat and
Happy New Year everyone!

Sugar Snails

By
Simply Romanesco inspired by my Grandma Vicki

Makes:
55+ servings

Ingredients:

For
the Dough:

·250 grams (1 stick plus 2 Tablespoons) butter,
at room temperature

·300 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour, plus
more to roll out the dough

·1 teaspoon fast rise dry yeast

·2 Tablespoons sour cream

·4 large eggs, at room temperature

·¼ teaspoon salt

·Up to ¼ cup milk, if necessary

For
the Sauce:

·280 grams (10 oz) walnuts, ground

·280 grams (2 ¼ cups) Confectioners’ sugar

·1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·Lemon zest from 1 lemon

Instructions for the Dough:

Separate
the egg whites and egg yolks.Set the
egg whites aside.

In a
large bowl, combine the butter, flour, yeast, salt, sour cream and egg yolks until
the dough gathers into a ball.If the
dough is too dry, add a bit of milk to the mixture (a couple of Tablespoons).The dough should be neither too dry nor too
soft.Gather into a ball and divide in
four pieces.Sprinkle some flour on top
of the dough and put it in the fridge for 1 hour.

Instructions for the Sauce:

In a
medium bowl, combine the ground walnuts with the confectioners’ sugar and lemon
zest.Set aside.Using an electric hand mixer, beat the egg
whites with the vanilla extract until firm peaks form.Using a spatula, gently mix in the walnuts
and sugar mixture.

Preheat
the oven to 350º F.Line four baking
sheets with parchment paper.

Transfer
the dough to a working surface.Flour
the rolling pin and working surface and roll out the dough into a ¼-inch thick rectangular
sheet (work with one ball of dough at a time).Spread a fourth of the walnut sauce all over the rolled out dough
leaving a 1-inch margin.Gently roll up the
sheet into a log and cut (flour the knife so that the dough does not stick to
the knife) as many 1-inch pieces as possible placing them on one of the baking
sheets. Bake the snails for 25-30
minutes until golden brown.Repeat with
the rest of the dough.

Once
out of the oven, allow the snails to cool on a cooling rack before dusting them
with more confectioners’ sugar.